Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Jazz drummer Fernando Gomez gets serious about being the solo “Nondoh”

“Sometimes you have to step back and let go”

Fernando Gomez performs under the moniker Nondoh.
Fernando Gomez performs under the moniker Nondoh.

“It’s a little scary to be doing this,” confessed musician Fernando Gomez, speaking of his journey from jazz drummer to electronic-dance-music solo artist with a new single titled “Let It Happen.” “Because all of my peers in the music community know me as a drummer, so it’s probably pretty weird to imagine me as a pop vocalist, but this is something that I really feel is right for me.”

Gomez is pursuing this new career under the nom de plume of “Nondoh,” a pseudonym he adopted for practical reasons. “I had released some music on YouTube back in 2015, but it got lost because my name is very common. I did a lot of research and by changing the spelling I was able to reserve ‘Nondoh’ as a domain name, and I think that was a better long-term plan.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Has Gomez given up his career as a jazz drummer (he’s played with Steph Johnson and Gilbert Castellanos, among others) to perform as a pop vocalist?

“I’m still doing the jazz stuff, and I’m still teaching, but I like this balance between those extremes and I want to keep doing both,” says Gomez. “I’ll probably always be working as a drummer playing jazz gigs, but I’m serious about pursuing pop/dance music as well.”

Everything on the new single emanates from “Nondoh” himself. “I play all the instruments on ‘Let It Happen.’ And I did all the engineering and production. The only thing I subbed out was the mastering.”

How long did he work on the new single?

“I’m trying to get faster, but this song probably took six months, because I like to make sure that I really resonate with all of the parts. I mean a lot of ideas might work, but I’m searching for ones that really mean something, so I’m always editing. Spending six months on one song is probably overdoing it though.”

And what is the meaning behind “Let It Happen?”

“The new song is about dealing with the changes in life that you can’t control,” says Gomez. “Sometimes you have to step back and let go. I wrote it about a friend of mine. We stopped talking about a year ago and I’m not sure if we’ll start again, but the song is all about accepting things the way they come.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego beaches not that nice to dogs

Bacteria and seawater itself not that great
Fernando Gomez performs under the moniker Nondoh.
Fernando Gomez performs under the moniker Nondoh.

“It’s a little scary to be doing this,” confessed musician Fernando Gomez, speaking of his journey from jazz drummer to electronic-dance-music solo artist with a new single titled “Let It Happen.” “Because all of my peers in the music community know me as a drummer, so it’s probably pretty weird to imagine me as a pop vocalist, but this is something that I really feel is right for me.”

Gomez is pursuing this new career under the nom de plume of “Nondoh,” a pseudonym he adopted for practical reasons. “I had released some music on YouTube back in 2015, but it got lost because my name is very common. I did a lot of research and by changing the spelling I was able to reserve ‘Nondoh’ as a domain name, and I think that was a better long-term plan.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Has Gomez given up his career as a jazz drummer (he’s played with Steph Johnson and Gilbert Castellanos, among others) to perform as a pop vocalist?

“I’m still doing the jazz stuff, and I’m still teaching, but I like this balance between those extremes and I want to keep doing both,” says Gomez. “I’ll probably always be working as a drummer playing jazz gigs, but I’m serious about pursuing pop/dance music as well.”

Everything on the new single emanates from “Nondoh” himself. “I play all the instruments on ‘Let It Happen.’ And I did all the engineering and production. The only thing I subbed out was the mastering.”

How long did he work on the new single?

“I’m trying to get faster, but this song probably took six months, because I like to make sure that I really resonate with all of the parts. I mean a lot of ideas might work, but I’m searching for ones that really mean something, so I’m always editing. Spending six months on one song is probably overdoing it though.”

And what is the meaning behind “Let It Happen?”

“The new song is about dealing with the changes in life that you can’t control,” says Gomez. “Sometimes you have to step back and let go. I wrote it about a friend of mine. We stopped talking about a year ago and I’m not sure if we’ll start again, but the song is all about accepting things the way they come.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Big kited bluefin on the Red Rooster III

Lake fishing heating up as the weather cools
Next Article

Hike off those holiday calories, Poinsettias are peaking

Winter Solstice is here and what is winter?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader